neon gloom would seem to paint the picture of something compassionately dark yet futuristic and androgynously electric. the fusion of art rock, new wave, experimental and asian muzik. positive spirituality and personal anarchy. tanguy, dali, kandinsky, philip k. dick, j.g. ballard, william gibson, franklin w. dixon, antoine predock, aeon flux, liquid sky, flaming ears, chronopolis..........Gloomy, Sci-Fi Art Rock.
Tory spent the early 1980's sitting in with St. Louis artsy punk and new wave groups. By 1984 he formed his own group "Vinyl Emissary" with Lance Onger. Became founding members of "Saturnalia Glossolalia"."Futurist Manifesto". "Ultraviolet Renaissance". and "neXt rAdio", a band created with Dr. Mabuse, which lasted for eight years recording more that 50 released cassette tapes and two cds. Next Radio had performed some of the most theatrical shows at that time using props, slide and film projectors as lighting and more than enough musical equipment on stage. 1996 saw Tory recording solo cds of abstract muzik, mostly instrumental. By 1997 he had essembled a live band to play out his new solo material. Venus Slick became a permanent member playing analogue synthesizers and samples/tapes. Now 2010, Tory is doing vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, synthesizers, violin/viola, saxophones, zurna, souna, sitar, saz, koto, yang qin and percussion depending on what recording or band lineup is happening. Venus has also added new noise responsibilities. There are more than 30 different cd releases and the muzik is still a consistent fusion of psychedelic new wave art rock, electroacoustic experimental ambient and Asian (Indian, Middle Eastern, Japanese, Chinese)acoustic music.
We do play live. Anywhere from cafes to clubs to art museums and galleries, modern furniture stores, at silent film festivals, etc. I still LOVE playing live and I do so every day for an audience or a classroom of modern dancers.
David Bowie (the more avant garde stuff), Brian Eno, Roxy Music, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Tortoise, Fiery Furnaces, Arcade Fire, Gary Numan, Chrome, Bauhaus, Psychedelic Furs, Ultravox, Japan, Simple Minds, The Legendary Pink Dots, Tuxedomoon, Dalis Car, Tones on Tail, Mick Karn, Morton Subotnick, Tangerine Dream, Cluster, Weather Report(1971-1973), Alice Coltrane, Sainkho Namtchylak, Toyah Wilcox, Robert Fripp, Nina Hagen, Anoushka and Ravi Shankar, classical and folk music of India, China, Japan, Arabia, Turkey, Lebanon.
synthesizers: a modified Moog Prodigy. Moog mg-1. Arp axxe. Arp odyssey. a modified Korg ms-20. Korg poly800. Korg ea-1. Two Korg monotrons. Octave cat. Nord lead-2. Paia/E.m.l. 4700 modular. Oberheim matrix 6r. Roland juno 106. Roland jp8000. Sequential Circuits prophet 600, Sequential Circuits split eight. Sequential Circuits Pro One. Modified Moog Prodigy. Yamaha dx100. Elka rhapsody 490. Casio vl tone. Pollard Syndrums Quad. Mattel synsonic drums. Boss dr. 550 percussion machine. And to run guitars, viola/violins, microphones etc. through we use effect pedals and processors by Electro Harmonix, Moog, Boss, Digitech. Roland spd-11 electronic percussion pad. Alto saxophone, tenor and alto bamboo saxophones, suona, zurna, shawm, sipsi, mijwitz, Indian snake charmer pipe, piano, organ, acoustic/electric guitars, electric viola/violins, yang qin (Chinese hammered dulcimer), sitar, saz (Turkish lute), koto, bass, fretless bass, short wave radio, theremin, ethnic percussion..........
TORY Z STARBUCK CDS ARE AVAILABLE at CDBABY.COM, APOP Records on south Cherokee St. , Vintage Vinyl in St. Louis and Borders (Brentwood and Creve Coeur).Members come and go...or, The revolving door: Venus Slick - synthesizers, short wave radio, air-fx, windjammer, theremin, tapes/samples, percussion machine programs, sequencers, spoken and ethereal vocals, treatments(has been with band since 1997). Dr. Mabuse - bass, fretless bass, guitar synthesizer, analogue modular synthesizers(was in neXt rAdio with Tory from 1990-1998). Bruce McLaughlin - acoustic/electronic drums, percussion. Anthony Englehardt- guitars, treatments, loops, synthesizers. Claire Bettale - synthesizers. Chuck Nowakowski - basses, loops, drum machines, treatments. Aaron Evans - acoustic/electronic drums, percussion. Henry Claude - acoustic drums, percussion. Eric Boschert - acoustic percussion. Jun Sugitani - basses, guitar(from 1998-2002). Erin Neill - cello, synthesizer.The late John Norment- saxophones. Rob Silverman - acoustic/electronic drums, percussion.
